Jeorgina Padilla: Childhood obesity affects Merced; we need solutions

In Merced County there is a high obesity rate among low-income children. These children can later develop permanent disease that can affect them their whole lives. This raises the question of whether or not childhood obesity is a public health threat.

As many as 38-40 percent of children ages 5-14 will become obese in Merced County. A solution is to motivate children to be more physically active as well to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Many of these kids might have a unhealthy diet due to the low income their parents earn, making them buy the more accessible cheap food for their families. Some solutions at the local level are to motivate children to be active in sports or physical activities at the organizational level such as the NFL Play 60 program. Schools could have a professional athlete attend school to talk about the importance of physical activity.

Another solution is to have safer parks by having high school volunteers keep a watchful eye on kids. By making parks safer, children and parents will want to go there more often. It is hard to eat healthy but setting importance on exercising can one day save a child from becoming obese.

JEORGINA PADILLA

Merced